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World's smallest PII motherboard?

Posted by CmdrTaco on from the little-yellow-better-(well,-not-yellow) dept.

Zoyd writes "Just out with the world's smallest PII motherboard is Cell Computing. Dimensions: 3 x 5 x 0.7". Weight: 170g. "

13 of 74 comments (clear)

  1. Hello? Hello??? by Bruce+Perens · · Score: 2
    It looks as if Slashdot fell back to the old server. At least 24 hours of news suddenly disappeared.

    Bruce

    --
    Bruce Perens.
  2. *damn* by Pascal+Q.+Porcupine · · Score: 2

    Holy CRAP that thing's tiny. That doesn't really have much information on it, though, and it seems to be for mobile P2s, which makes sense, of course, but those aren't exactly as accessable or cheap as Slot1 or Socket370 chips. Though it IS small enough for a decent wearable... Wonder if they'd consider making a version with a good 3D chip in it such as the Rage128, which is really designed for OEM integration, though finding a place to put all the video memory could be a problem... (not to mention that although Rage128s don't put out much heat power, they get really hot)
    ---
    "'Is not a quine' is not a quine" is a quine.

    --
    "'Is not a quine' is not a quine" is a quine.
    Quine "quine?
  3. Re:Amazing!!! by Pascal+Q.+Porcupine · · Score: 2

    Read the whitepapers. Apparently it uses the mobile P2. Wouldn't surprise me if they were to do a model which takes Socket370 chips either. But the whitepaper gives several ideas and specs.
    ---
    "'Is not a quine' is not a quine" is a quine.

    --
    "'Is not a quine' is not a quine" is a quine.
    Quine "quine?
  4. New uses for old X86 technology by Sleepy · · Score: 2
    Amazing how the stuff gets smaller and smaller, so I was thinking what elsecould this be used for?
    1. Couple this with Apple's Airport networking, and you'd have a portable brick that cracks rc5/des AND you can put it by your feet under the blanket this winter.
    2. How about an multifunction MP3player for your car? This baby just small enough to fit in an air conditioning duct. On cold New England days I could crank that air conditioning up and keep warm...
    3. Wearable computers? Not for humans, BUT... strap it to a live pig, put it in a box, and have THE freshest cooked ham *EVER*.
    4. High-tech, self-propelled hot air balloons..? If they run hot enough they'd be lighter than air.. :-p


    Anyone besides me always get those wierd NT problems where all your desktop icons get replaced by other applications? Explorer's using Netscape Composer's icon right now, and Quake icon's for Word. Wacky...

  5. mmmm. small things. by Mudhiker · · Score: 2

    Of course, I gotta be first to ask, "wouldn't it be nifty to have a beowolf cluster in a briefcase??" ;-)

    seriously though, i think these are cool. probably hella expensive and all though.

    *offtopic* Dagnabit, I'm tired of waiting ...waiting for xfree4, waiting for KDE 2, Koffice, slackware 5, corelinux, Berlin, friday, october...money for guitar...money for new puter...waiting waiting waiting...

    --
    "I want peace on earth and good will toward men." "We're the U.S. government. We don't do that sort of thing!!"
  6. Details by Tekmage · · Score: 2

    You can find an outline of spec here. As for price, EMJ doesn't have the P2-333 listed, but the P-233 version is US$1061 in single quantities. I wouldn't expect the P2-333 to be much more than $1200-1500. Observed maximum power consumption is 14.1W; averages they give for Windows* are 4.2-3W.

    You'll probably want (need, actually) to get one of these if you want to actually use the module; the CardPAC provides all the physical I/O. 3.75"x5.3"x1.1" dimensions. Costs $999 direct from Cell Computing.

    Doesn't have SB-compatible audio; does have USB though.

    Plug a 256MB DIMM in, boot off a CompactFlash card and you've got one screamin' machine!

    --
    --The more you know, the less you know.
  7. I hate myself for this but.. by Tarnar · · Score: 2

    Damn, what a sweet Beowulf cluster these would make, just imagine how many you could cram in a room.

    I feel dirty now.

  8. Re:Price by SEWilco · · Score: 2
    Price ranges are mentioned in the press releases.

    Don't you wish such web sites would mention the prices in more obvious places? Unless they're giving their stuff away?

    Actually, all things should have their prices shown. I'm sometimes shopping for PLCs, compact PCs (sometimes that Linux box has to fit in a shoebox on the end of a crane boom), or ordinary PCs. I always have to consider the price range.

  9. Re:Does Linux properly support PII motherboards? by Jburkholder · · Score: 2

    Not anymore, really. You have to set 'willing to moderate' on your prefs, then you will get 5 points with which to moderate. When you've spent those points, you no longer can moderate until you get another 5 points. Availability of points seems to be driven by number of overall posts to /. and Rob seems to have tweaked this over time to make fewer points available.

    I used to get moderator access every few weeks, but I've since changed my prefs to not willing to moderate. On the whole, I've found that the moderating doesn't do anything for me since I browse at -1 anyway and all I see happening is that ppl complain about it more than anything else.

    If it works for you and you set your limit to +2, great. If you think it sucks, set your limit to -1 and change your prefs to not show scores at all. If you valuate your worth as a human being based on the scores given to you /. posts, you need to get a new hobby :)

  10. just like an Intel MMO ... by hope1ess · · Score: 2

    OK, so what's the big deal? Intel has been making
    the MMO modules for a couple of years now, and these things look like they've just bought them and attached a fan to it...

    Aren't these modules already inside most PII mobiles sold today?

    Hrmmm....

  11. Oops by Pascal+Q.+Porcupine · · Score: 3
    In my haste, I didn't notice that there was more to the whitepaper than just the simple specs and usual marketing hype. This thing's *real* neat... and they also have other products which would also be useful for a whole bunch of projects I can think of. For example, perhaps an entertainment center component with a slim form factor, or maybe a complete system which is completely out of the way except for the display... hook it up to one of those NTSC serial terminals (as mentioned on /. many moons ago, which can do text overlays on an NTSC signal) and use it to do... well, anything really.

    And since it's going to be said eventually anyway, these could be used for having a complete Beowulf cluster in a single case... :)

    Man. This could even be used for a handheld running BeOS or that obscure UNIX clone everyone keeps talking about or something...

    Damn. if only I had the time, energy, and drive to do projects with these things...
    ---
    "'Is not a quine' is not a quine" is a quine.

    --
    "'Is not a quine' is not a quine" is a quine.
    Quine "quine?
  12. Re:Price by SEWilco · · Score: 3
    I think that is only the module, which is basically the CPU and I/O assembly. You still need to plug it into a board which has all the standard connectors. I think over on the side was a link to a development kit for about $1,000.

    But they'd prefer for you to spend the time of a salesman to learn these things rather than put the prices there and set up a real catalog which has such information for those who want to buy an appropriate set of devices.

  13. Re:Two suitcases and some Power Rangers to carry t by SEWilco · · Score: 3
    I've forgotten...
    How much power does a human body generate? Maybe it could power some computers...
    Now where have I heard that idea before?

    Seriously, there are possible sources for human-powered wearable computing.